More good news for Obama as surge of hirings in January means economy created jobs at fastest pace in nine months US employers have scotched signs that the pace of economic recovery is slowing, stepping up hiring in January and bringing the unemployment rate down for the fifth month in a row, to a three-year low of 8.3%. According to the labour department’s closely watched nonfarm payroll figures, the US added another 243,000 last month, the biggest gain since April. The jobless figure is the lowest it has been since February 2009